This rerun of her life on American Experience on PBS the other night was great!

Way before her time, she was so smart and so exceptional. American exceptional, until she was deported.

She herself claimed she was wrong and way off base after talking to Lenin. She told Lenin that he needed to push for Free Speech, while the Bolshevik revolution was being played out. Lenin joked, do you know what is actually going on here, what with all the looting and killing, and you want Free Speech???

I kind of feel as though we are kind of in that same situation these days.

Peace!

]]>255013Sat, 25 May 2019 03:12:28 +0000How do you deal with the problemhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/253834-how-do-you-deal-with-the-problem/
First you need to understand the system and its constraints. You can't change the container, because then you would have to change everything, rewrite all the, say, 510K submissions that would probably dismantle your entire business plan.

Or, you could think out of the box. You could stop selling a certain size, And decide to go small.

HOW do you deal with a problem?

Ask someone who worked all their life at your company. Ask them why they still work there. The cash cow, the product life cycle. Lets pretend you went to business school, and yeah, Harvard, or Yale,

or Trumps favorite name sake, the Wharton school, and then were given the reigns.

Do you diversify and if so, by just how much?

What company did you buy last week, does your corporate ideology apply to what they do?

Surely it must. Surely, you could benchmark all the salaries paid by the companies you buy. Since you are an international corporation, Shirley, you must know a thing or two about economic disparity in that country, one would hope

How do you deal with a problem. Who put you in charge (Shirley), who do you hire to help you figure things out so that the matter will be taken care of immediately before things get out of hand?

What about logistics, do your marketing heads all around the world speak each and everyday, do they understand the regulatory constraints, do they, do they?

Do you have a team of legal experts, and people with know how, who can be counted on?

I think it is wise to go into accounting, you should be an accountant. Finance is too hard. Finance is crazy, loony tunes. Can you write, instead of being a god darn poet, perhaps you should be a marketing wiz, but don't try to sell, you can't sell poop, to China, or can you,

Can you sell poop to China?

And I am talking about re-populating the human microbiome here.

Peace!

]]>253834Sun, 05 May 2019 10:06:19 +0000Biden is the only hope for beating THE PIGhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/254815-biden-is-the-only-hope-for-beating-the-pig/
You all know it's true. 24 democrats reminds me of the clown car load of republicans in the last election. Too many cooks spoil the soup. Get behind Biden and run the best horse in the race.
]]>254815Wed, 22 May 2019 01:22:08 +0000Do we need a name for Obama's spending to bail out of Bush's Great Recession?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/254587-do-we-need-a-name-for-obamas-spending-to-bail-out-of-bushs-great-recession/
Obama spend a lot of borrowed dollars to recover from the G. W. Bush caused Great Recession.

The Fox "conservatives" ALWAYS mention Obama's spending when Liberals attempt to point out that Trump's economy is based on more spending and lending of borrowed dollars.

Granted,

many of the regular "conservative" posters here KNOW that Obama's spending was required to reconstruct the economy post-Bush.

But,

you never really know, by some of their comments, if they really expect that the Great Recession was going to end in 6 months.

And then, of course, the asinine lie that Obama "prolonged" the recession.

But, does something like;

"Spending to recover from the Bush recession",

or,

"Reconstruction costs from the Bush recession",

or anything else REALLY cover the damage that Bush, and Republicans, in general, do to this country?

]]>254587Fri, 17 May 2019 21:30:26 +0000https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/233041-avoiding-meat-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth/
The biggest analysis to date reveals the huge footprint of livestock - It provides just 18% of calories but takes up 83% of farmland. The new research shows that without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% ... And still feed the world. Since most of the mass extinction of wildlife is due to habitat loss, vegan lifestyles would greatly slow the dying out of wildlife species.

“A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,” said Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, UK, who led the research. “It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car,” he said, as these only cut greenhouse gas emissions.

the comparison of beef with plant protein such as peas is stark, with even the lowest impact beef responsible for six times more greenhouse gases and 36 times more land.

]]>255003Sat, 25 May 2019 00:20:11 +0000Jim Carrey is a pretty good artisthttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/243699-jim-carrey-is-a-pretty-good-artist/ He's got a sense of humor too. Some newspaper should sign him up to do political satire comics.

Jim Carrey took to Twitter on Thursday to share his latest painting depicting Donald Trump, one that took aim at the president’s Thanksgiving call to U.S. troops overseas and his subsequent comments about the world being a “vicious place.”

As described byPopCulture, the painting was captioned on Twitter as a “holiday greeting from the White House,” showing Trump on the phone and uttering a misspelled version of one of the lines he said after Thursday’s teleconference call.

The remark Jim Carrey was referencing was made on Thursday, as Trump spoke to reporters who wanted to know his take on who should be blamed for the killing ofWashington Postjournalist Jamal Khashoggi. According toBusiness Insider, Trump remained firm in his refusal to pin any blame on Saudi Arabia, suggesting that “maybe the world should be held accountable” for Khashoggi’s death due to the world being a “vicious place.”

Earlier on Thursday, Trump held a teleconference call from his private resort at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, speaking to U.S. military officers from various parts of the world and touching on a number of topics, including Khashoggi’s death, which he likewise blamed on the world in general, as recapped by theWashington Post, The president also notably said that on Thanksgiving Day, he was most thankful for how he “made a tremendous difference in our country.”

Jim Carrey’s painting of Donald Trump calling the world a “vishus [sic] place” while on the phone was not the first illustration of the president he shared on Twitter this week, according to theHuffington Post. On Tuesday, the actor and comedian posted his painting of the president speaking as bill-shaped rectangles with the word “lies” printed on them flew out of his mouth.

As previously reported by theHollywood Reporter, Carrey appeared at Vulture Fest in Los Angeles last Sunday, where he took part in a panel discussion and discussed the motivation for his politically-charged paintings, which included his latest artwork at the time, a painting depicting Senate Majority Mitch McConnell as a turtle. TheEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mindstar referred to Trump as a “melanoma,” further suggesting that people such as White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders are merely “putting makeup on it” by defending the president’s statements.

“Now he has the nerve to come out a couple of days ago and ask for bipartisanship. These are not people you can deal with. You cannot be bipartisan with a criminal,” Carrey said.

]]>178008Thu, 02 Jul 2015 16:00:40 +0000American Exceptionalism Limits Our Progresshttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/254541-american-exceptionalism-limits-our-progress/
There are so many other nations which handle various problems better than we do in the US. But we do not take the time to even study their examples, let alone acting to follow their models. This stems from an attitude of arrogance and superiority, which has its basis in corporate profits.

Two of the Biggest Examples:

Mainly due to the insurance industry's $$$influence$$$ over legislatures, we are stuck with the most inefficient health care systems in the developed world. We are the only advanced nation which doesn't provide all its citizens with health care. There is much to be learned from at least a dozen other countries which all handle Universal Healthcare in their own unique ways. But American Exceptionalism prevents us from considering the best.

Countries as diverse as Finland and China have better outcomes from their schools. But here in the US, the trend is to privatize education, to the detriment of better education. Businesses involved with private education and and financial institutions which profit from student loans have, in no small measure, kept us behind countries with better education.

There are so many other areas where we could learn from other countries which have solved problems better than they are being handled in the US; From our prison systems, to drug laws. But American Exceptionalism stands in the way.

]]>254427Wed, 15 May 2019 10:57:49 +0000A lot more billionaires and still no middle class growthhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/254660-a-lot-more-billionaires-and-still-no-middle-class-growth/
How does a country make good trade policy?

Who makes trade policy?

Where is the evolution of the species when billions of people are still poor?

Where is the evolution of the planet when millions of species are becoming extinct?

It is a difficult issue to change the system that controls just about all of the market capital which is decidedly controlled by few.

You have to educate women, and people in poverty, and how do you do this, what would motivate them?

What would motivate the poor enough to take the reigns in a more salient way to finally find a way to conserve and become

much more efficient?

I think Ben Franklin wondered about this, but when he was alive it was a completely different planet. At least, there were wide open expanses,

a lot of the world back then was still idyllic, untouched, what's the word, pristine, or back in his time and for thousands and thousands of years before he lived

no matter what you did, the world was wild.

We have come a long way since then. And yet we now have a whole lot more challenges.

A whole lot more.

And while we are creating more billionaires, many times over, we are coming to days where most people in the back of their minds wonder

what the hell is going to happen in the not to distant future.

Are we all going to be billionaires someday?

What would that be like?

Less law suits, I'm sure.

Nobody to screw, to make more money, because they would screw you first if you ever even tried.

So what, Robots?

Peace!

]]>254660Sun, 19 May 2019 07:38:01 +0000Climate Change Will Not Subside Using Halfway Measureshttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/254460-climate-change-will-not-subside-using-halfway-measures/
IMO, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is correct. Halfway measures to combat climate change are a death knell for humankind.

Bees, bats, beetles, birds, moths and butterflies, pollinate about 90 percent of wild plants and cross-pollinate at least 30 % of the world's crops. Bat and butterfly species are dying out as fast as bees.

Between 50% and 80% of the world's oxygen is produced by phytoplankton and they too, are being threatened by warming oceans. If pollinators die out and plankton becomes scarce, atmospheric oxygen will become diminished. - Add several lifetimes worth of oxygen tanks to required supplies for any survival shelter which might be capable of protecting it's occupants.

Phytoplankton – the foundation of the oceanic food chain. Scientists estimate that phytoplankton contribute between 50 to 85 percent of the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere. Image via NOAA

]]>254460Wed, 15 May 2019 20:58:46 +0000So Who Are We Going To Support In 2020?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/213243-so-who-are-we-going-to-support-in-2020/I think we need an exciting candidate to unseat Trump in 2020. Who do you think that could be? Sherrod Brown from Ohio? Joe Biden?

Trump should be vulnerable. But we might be making a mistake if we put Hillary up against him again.

]]>213243Mon, 05 Jun 2017 01:25:00 +0000Notre Dame Rebuildhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/254182-notre-dame-rebuild/
It's been slow here lately, so I'm going to get this off my chest. I've seen several instances where people are upset with those who donated funds to rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral. They're angry that the funds weren't spent on something more worthy. One comment said "a single human life is worth more than any building".

I haven't seen any of that here on LO, and I'm glad for that because I think the criticism is misplaced for a couple of reasons. First, consider what the money would have been used for if it hadn't been donated. Is there any evidence that this money was pulled from other other donations? Or, was it additional? My understanding is that this money represents new donations. In other words, this money would have been spent on yachts and jewelry (or sat in a bank account) if it hadn't been donated. If that's the case, this is a better use and should not be criticized.

In fact, this criticism can discourage further donations. No matter what cause you give to, someone will believe you should have given to theirs instead. I think many donate as a way to assuage any guilt they may have. They want to feel better about themselves. But, when they're faced with public criticism for having given away money, they're less likely to do it again. This sort of criticism does nothing to encourage philanthropy overall.

Another point is that we all (almost all) have disposable income. I could tell these Notre Dame critics that they should be donating their money to fight starvation in Africa instead of buying whatever it is that they buy (cell phones, makeup, entertainment, dining out, etc.). Surely 'a single human life is worth more than eye shadow'? The point is that we have no room to criticize others for making the same decision we make ourselves. We all prioritize our own comfort ahead of the lives of others. That may indeed be wrong. But, how can I criticize you for something I do myself?

Finally, do we really believe "a single human life is worth more than any building"? How much is a human life worth? They're perishable, normally lasting less than a century, no matter how much you spend on them. We have quite a lot of them already, maybe even more than the planet can properly support. If you answer the question honestly, it sort of depends on whose life we're talking about. For me, if you're talking about my daughter's life, then I'd sacrifice every building in Paris. If you're talking about some person I've never met and know nothing about...it might be a different answer. I might value the pain and suffering of the 2 million people who live in Paris above that single anonymous life. How long would this person live anyway? What is their net impact on the world? Maybe they're a bad person? It's easy to devalue an unknown life.

Maybe I should rethink this? Maybe every life on Earth is as precious as my own daughter's? That's extremely difficult to wrap my head around...maybe even impossible. And, if my priorities are wrong, I'm not alone. By their actions, I see everyone else making the same decisions.

]]>254182Fri, 10 May 2019 13:00:01 +0000The History Of The Future And The Future Of Liberalismhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/253921-the-history-of-the-future-and-the-future-of-liberalism/
For the first time in history, the everyday lives of normal people are being recorded on social media. Sites like Facebook, Instagram and Google have become mediums for ordinary people to express and record the details of their lives; Their greatest hopes and worst fears.

Up to now history was presented, overwhelmingly from the point of view of the most affluent and powerful males. Since literacy was far more prevalent among the highborn than commoners, most of what historians have been able to uncover about ordinary lives, comes from archeological evidence like preserved skeletons, clothing and other artifacts.

So history is skewed; largely over-representing the wealthy and powerful. But now, all that is changed. Historians of the future will have a record of the past allowing them to document the little people as well as the most powerful movers and shakers. Going forward, ordinary people's wants, needs, desires and resentments will, presumably receive far more attention in recorded history Is it possible that this will lead to a new level of liberalism?

]]>253921Mon, 06 May 2019 18:28:23 +0000Joe Biden is in the racehttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/253413-joe-biden-is-in-the-race/
I'm starting to make sense out of Captain Beefheart now, as I sadly wonder why...

]]>253413Sun, 28 Apr 2019 02:53:35 +0000The right elected a monster and I've spent the last 3 years listening to why.https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252771-the-right-elected-a-monster-and-ive-spent-the-last-3-years-listening-to-why/
The right has tested the waters giving multiple reasons why they voted for him and they have been all a sham, unless they come up with something new as a excuse for electing this evil cruel man. They have tested the waters trying to find anything that would justify this act of hatred , there isn't any though , what they did do is elect this countries biggest threat.
]]>252771Thu, 18 Apr 2019 15:19:37 +0000Nobody does what they say they will dohttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/254278-nobody-does-what-they-say-they-will-do/
Nobody has their ideas tied to the yoke

Somebody has to bend, a leader has to say,

You gotta say, somebody has got to bend

somehow, in someway.

Otherwise nobody does what they say they will do.

How could they. How could they.

How could they.

Say that they could do something when if they were

being truly honest they knew

that they could not.

And that seems to be a good excuse

And that seems to be conditionally

a genuinely accepted premise

For a long long time now, it seems as though

there are no Giants, no Super Heroes

Even though most people wish

there could be just a simple example

of someone who tried

to be true

If they did, And if they did,

How, and Why,

How, and Why?

Good questions. How, and why?

Since you got a heart so big.

To rebuild Notre Dame.

It's vital that you do.

Nobody ever said anything about the trees in the

rain forest being cut down with the same

conviction.

Somehow that got marginalized.

Not too many people in power make it clear

what it means to have no healthcare and

lose your house because you cannot pay the

rent.

I'm sorry, they just don't.

Peace!

]]>254278Sun, 12 May 2019 08:53:03 +0000yesterdayhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/254275-yesterday/
The other morning walking down near the old town
I heard more birds speak nearby an open lot
that has been left alone for quite a long time,
long enough to remember it as it was
when I was only a partial boy.

There sat, a boarded up old house, with boarded
up windows, and it
had been raised from its foundation as
if it would someday be moved, but never
was.

The old wooden picket fence had been removed,
as were the other houses that sat not too far from it
which had all been removed,
open empty space

There were trees everywhere, and purple spikey
thorn leaves of bull thistle awaiting to flower,
almost like a pencil drawing in the
movement of time before it surely does
without any sound.

It was almost as if time had become
muted, and only a picture remained.

Or, any hearing of almost the extreme opposite,
And me trying somehow to understand what I
never could, may not ever,

because I am only a robot,
they say.

Peace!

]]>254275Sun, 12 May 2019 04:55:24 +0000View of Israel from a left-wing Arabhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/253341-view-of-israel-from-a-left-wing-arab/
Fred Maroun is a Canadian of Arab origin who lived in Lebanon until 1984, including during 10 years of civil war.

]]>253341Fri, 26 Apr 2019 16:45:53 +0000The Most Liberal Thread Everhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/224281-the-most-liberal-thread-ever/
This thread is where we need to see how liberal we can be. It is also a place to catalogue events like liberal victories.

The most recent liberal victory was Doug Jones winning the Senate seat in ALABAMA!

And Democrats just recently flipped about fifteen seats in the Virginia state House while winning the Governor's race there and in New Jersey!

2018 may be a wave for Democrats!

We can also post ideas for liberals. I have one idea. Liberals should start a nationwide business that makes cakes for gay and lesbian couples. Then they won't have a problem finding a cake anymore. And a liberal business person would get rich.

5. Report for Selected Countries and Subjects

You will findnoteson the data and options todownloadthe table below your results.

Shaded cells indicate IMF staff estimates

Country

Subject Descriptor

Units

Scale

Country/Series-specific Notes

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

China

Gross domestic product, current prices

Purchasing power parity; international dollars

Billions

23,189.898

25,270.066

27,331.166

29,609.091

32,038.093

34,581.357

37,274.675

40,147.772

United States

Gross domestic product, current prices

Purchasing power parity; international dollars

Billions

19,485.400

20,494.050

21,344.667

22,198.116

23,059.653

23,922.822

24,812.956

25,728.734

Notes

Trade wars, seem to be about companies wishing only to gain more profits. And meanwhile, China's economy is already bigger than our own. Purchasing power parity.

Whereby each country that has enough people and enough resource, and a legitimate government could survive on its own accord.

I don't know why that does not seem logical enough.

Take China. They have approximately three times the population of the US. The Yuan = 0.15 of the US dollar. The Chinese do not need the US markets. I know, I used to go to Canada, to buy beer, and gas, and textiles. I could buy a lot of beer, and gas, and textiles with my dollar in Canada.

And Those Canadians, they would be willing to sell it. For them, those Canadians, it was a good thing that I would come and spend US dollars, and to me it seemed to also be a good thing, because in Canada, stuff that was the same was a whole lot cheaper. I could go to Canada and buy the same thing for less.

ChinaGross domestic product, current pricesPurchasing power parity; international dollarsBillions23,189.89825,270.06627,331.16629,609.09132,038.09334,581.35737,274.67540,147.772

United StatesGross domestic product, current pricesPurchasing power parity; international dollarsBillions19,485.40020,494.05021,344.66722,198.11623,059.65323,922.82224,812.95625,728.734

Notes

]]>253832Sun, 05 May 2019 09:24:42 +0000Hey Democrats, why not focus on the Working Man a bit morehttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252026-hey-democrats-why-not-focus-on-the-working-man-a-bit-more/
And the working woman. You know the people who work all day long. The people who have to work to get by, and raise a family. They got to raise a family, they got to have children, they got to fill the land, they got to populate. Unless, the robots, take over, and the productivity rates go way up past the usual 1.5 to 2.0 percent like we've seen in the last several decades.

If the robots ever take over much, they will not need all the babies, and all the self driving cars, and all the food stuffs will be kind of cheap to produce. Who would ever want to work hard if that was the case? Well, I'm guessing that if that was the case, you would have to pay people a lot more to work. I mean, considering the supply would be so easy to come by.

Anyway, this is the best song Rush ever did in my opinion.

You Democratic Hopefuls, play this song at the end of everyone of your speeches. Get the use of the song endorsed by Rush. If you win the primary, have Rush play "working man" live at the fricking

Democratic Convention!!!

Get the Unions involved have them there too / Rock the heck out of that Fricking stage!!!

Peace!

]]>252026Sun, 07 Apr 2019 05:49:07 +0000Are we more different than similar?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/253338-are-we-more-different-than-similar/
After listening to one (too many) of MSNBC Steve Kornacki's psuedo-statistical political analysis, I got to thinking about demographics, groups, and DNA.
You may have heard Mr Kornacki,(or others) using phrases like 'college educated white females', or 'likely rural, middle class, asian american voters, over the age of 60, who identify themselves as evangelical republicans, and voted for Clinton in 2016'

Okay, you may not have heard that last one, but I use it as an example of the futility, inherent prejudice, and division caused by placing everyone into ever more detailed demographic boxes, then generalizing about their behavior for political, or marketing purposes.

Is this demographic data accurate? Useful?, Devisive?

I take some pride in being a member of the very smallest demographic. There is only one ExPDXer, and no statistician can predict how I will vote, no matter how much data they have on my race, religion, income level, geographic location.

Somewhere out there, two identical twin brothers, raised in the same household, voted for different candidates in 2016.

I believe that everyone is different. Very different, and unique. The minute you start putting humans into groups, and generalizing about their behavior, the accuracy of those predictions take a nosedive. This becomes dangerous when 'predictions' turn into assumptions, and stereotypes.

So what does this have to do with DNA?

At least 2 of the major demographic variables are DNA based. Gender, & Race. (There may be some Cambridge Analytica type group out there claiming to predict how people will vote based on hair color, but I digress).

This got me thinking, how many different DNA sequences are possible, and why do humans insist on putting themselves (and others) into groups?

Consider this:

Each human carries about 13,500 variants, and that perhaps 300 of these affect gene function.
The number of possible combinations is 1 x 2 x 3 … x 300 = 3 x 10^614. A number so large it can't easily be comprehended.

(There are currently about 7 billion living humans. The number that has ever lived is 108 billion.)
IOW, the human race has only used up a tiny fraction of the available combinations, only occasionally producing a Hawkings, or Einstein.

So we are very unique at birth, unique not only among others born in the same location, and place, but unique from anyone that has ever lived.
After that, a lifetime of different experiences creates further uniqueness. It's amazing that we agree on anything.
This may explain my Thanksgiving day political arguments with my siblings, and why twins may vote differently.

Animals herd into groups for two reasons, protection, and to accomplish large tasks.
It's impossible to communicate about politics without discussing various categories, or groups of people.
But, I think this always involves inaccurate generalizations, and therefore useless assumptions, and predictions about behavior.

]]>253338Fri, 26 Apr 2019 15:49:09 +0000Korea: The Never-Ending Warhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/253823-korea-the-never-ending-war/
I watched this documentary on the Korean war and I would advise everyone to see it. Holy cow, the Korean people have gone through so much. The US did not help. First, just after the second world war they helped to usher out the Japanese who conducted big time criminal war acts. All of the Korean people greeted the US soldiers with open arms. And then the US left. Anyway, after the war there were just two Super Powers.

Truman wanted to go back to the way the US was before the war. He wanted to vastly reduce the US military and did. We only took control of the factories to fight against the fascist and the Nazi and the Japanese - we needed to for survival. That war was over and so Truman wanted to dismantle the military - rightfully.

Somehow a few diplomats met with the Russians and split Korea into two by pulling out a map. Nobody knew about the people who lived in Korea, it's history, nothing.

Anyway, watch this film. It was something I really didn't know too much about. A real eye opener for me.

]]>253823Sun, 05 May 2019 02:03:27 +0000Lies and other thingshttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252985-lies-and-other-things/
As long as I've been around many politicians have not been completely honest. But to call a sitting president a straight up liar is not normal. Sure, LBJ was called a baby killer and worse. He was called a liar by Vietnam protesters, but typically the press stepped back from calling him an out and out liar - not that he wasn't a liar, and not that later on after the Pentagon Papers were released a lot of folks knew it was true. Nixon, or Tricky Dick, also deceived quite a lot. But again, he got a pass from the press until he resigned knowing if he didn't he'd soon be impeached.

Reagan lied, or was confused, I'm not sure which. But there was a dishonesty for sure with the Iran Contra affair, and even before, regarding the release of the American Hostages just prior to his first election win.

Bush II, was controlled by a liar, Dick Cheney, but the press never said as much outright, at least not the mainstream press.

Obama Lied, Joe Wilson shouted out, "You Lie", at a 2009 State of the Union Speech / which technically was untrue, and also extremely the wrong thing to do at a State of the Union Speech.

But pretty much, calling a president or a Senator a liar, especially by the press was not something you heard everyday.

And then, came Trump, the quintessential habitual liar that he is, had to be called out by the press as being a true, and total lying, unfit for the presidency, narcissist pathological liar, because honest to goodness that's what he is and not to say as much would be dishonest.

But did you notice, that once that damn broke, the Republicans call a whole host of people out as being liars.

They say, Adam Schiff is a liar - but they don't point out any of his lies. What did he say that was a lie?

They say the mainstream news media is lying, but what lies did they tell, other than Fox News?

Today, the Republicans call all Democrats Liars. The Republicans are mad at all the lies the Democrats have told. What lies? I wish they could be a little specific.

Trump utilized the Russian Propaganda Campaign as well as their illegal hacking to secure the presidency. The other day I heard a Republican Strategist counter that by saying that Hillary used a foreign

fake dossier to illegally try to hurt Trump and possibly indict him.

First, Hillary didn't fund the Steele Dossier in the beginning, it was the Republicans. And Secondly, Christopher Steele was MI6, and not part of the GRU.

Anyway, nowadays, the Republicans, many of those in the Congress call Democrats liars, and they call the news media liars - but they never say anything damning about Trump or Fox News.

Lies, liars. I hear those words a lot. Every time we hear about Trump and his associates Lying, we hear more of more Republicans calling the Democrats liars. It's always been the Republican way, to deflect when accused, and then make at least twice the amount of accusations.

Make the primary constructive. I’ll respect the other candidates and make the primary election about inspiring voters with my vision for the future.

Rally behind the winner. I’ll support the ultimate Democratic nominee, whoever it is — period. No Monday morning quarterbacking. No third-party threats. Immediately after there’s a nominee, I’ll endorse.

Do the work to beat Trump. I will do everything in my power to make the Democratic Nominee the next President of the United States. As soon as there is a nominee, I will put myself at the disposal of the campaign

THE INTERCEPT: What if we actually pulled off a Green New Deal? What would the future look like? The Intercept presents a film narrated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and illustrated by Molly Crabapple.

Set a couple of decades from now, the film is a flat-out rejection of the idea that a dystopian future is a forgone conclusion. Instead, it offers a thought experiment: What if we decided not to drive off the climate cliff? What if we chose to radically change course and save both our habitat and ourselves?

We realized that the biggest obstacle to the kind of transformative change the Green New Deal envisions is overcoming the skepticism that humanity could ever pull off something at this scale and speed. That’s the message we’ve been hearing from the “serious” center for four months straight: that it’s too big, too ambitious, that our Twitter-addled brains are incapable of it, and that we are destined to just watch walruses fall to their deaths on Netflix until it’s too late.

This film flips the script. It’s about how, in the nick of time, a critical mass of humanity in the largest economy on earth came to believe that we were actually worth saving. Because, as Ocasio-Cortez says in the film, our future has not been written yet and “we can be whatever we have the courage to see.”

]]>252956Sat, 20 Apr 2019 15:24:52 +0000Nicolas Sequeira has done it again!https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252473-nicolas-sequeira-has-done-it-again/
Liberal Atheist cartoonist Nicolas R. Sequeira's entry for the Denver Film Festival this year, VIYCE, looks pretty good. It's a real high octane comedy. I'm buying tickets today!
]]>252473Sat, 13 Apr 2019 18:45:01 +0000who would support a ban on conservatives?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252916-who-would-support-a-ban-on-conservatives/
I would like to start a discussion on banning conservatives. Maybe not conservatives per say a few seem to be wiling to discuss things in civil and logical terms, 99% of the rest are just abusive trolls, just get rid of them they do not discuss issues they slander and insult they are not honest participants they are subversive

]]>252916Fri, 19 Apr 2019 22:44:35 +0000Fission or Fusion, with our backs against the fencehttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/253002-fission-or-fusion-with-our-backs-against-the-fence/
roll on the water

down into the river

the water is a stream

with a current that

flows down hill

by gravity

Just where the mountain

high sits, East, West

North, South

And the Sun that sits

Far Far Far

off

]]>253002Sun, 21 Apr 2019 07:05:11 +0000So the tragedy of a Notre-dame fire igniteshttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/253001-so-the-tragedy-of-a-notre-dame-fire-ignites/
A populace is saddened by a fire that defaces history, and then all of the sudden millions of dollars are given by the richest people overnight.

Yes, there are people who can donate millions to rebuild. Yes, there is inequality.

A monument. In historic terms, the beginning of Paris.

Almost overnight almost a billion dollars is donated to rebuild the historic site.

Quite literally, almost a billion US dollars, quite literally overnight.

A pot of gold, not bequeathed, just donated.

I wish they would have done the same for Puerto Rico.

They are so afraid of any type of populist movement when the monetary movement had seemed to have been the stalwart mechanism

once upon a time.

So the tragedy of the Paradise did not signify a problem caused by man made climate change. And Exxon did not hire scientist to construe

a pack of lies way back in the nineteen seventies - they actually did.

We aren't that smart. We never knew. We all just tried to get a job and make a life.

Quite literally.

Donald J. Trump won the presidential election in 2016 by the electoral count, with the help of the GRU. And yes, they lied.

And yes, the Republican Party lied.

And yes, the ACA, the Affordable Care Act, allowed people to have healthcare no matter whether or not they had pre-existing health conditions,

and almost overnight, the rate of healthcare insurance rates flattened out.

For some crazy odd reason health insurance rates all of the sudden stopped rising through the roof.

It was almost like, some smart finance people got together and said, we should tone down how much we are taking advantage of, "what they called,

the gravy train", well at least for awhile.

They work over seventy hours a week in China now. They work over seventy hours a week all over the US just trying hard to get by. But the world has

changed. We have a problem with public schools, and the Republicans want to push more people into private schools that are not constrained by having

to deal with children with handicaps. Let those parents deal with their deficient kids on their own.

You just cannot have a progressive taxation system. You got to have a regression, one that is far far far from 1 that is close to perfect, how about 0.0001 for starters.

We used to say, it had to be > 98%, I am talking about accuracy of measurement, coefficient of determination, R squared.

See they lie, they all lie. Where numbers don't seem to matter. People are fed up and they don't know how to change things anymore.

The major plumbing was put in place well over a hundred years ago and built to last 75.

I guess we need Billionaires to donate right now. Please do donate now. The people in Puerto Rico have been waiting a long time.

Where are the engineers?

Peace!

]]>253001Sun, 21 Apr 2019 06:28:54 +0000Politics and pro wrestlinghttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252957-politics-and-pro-wrestling/
I found this article (Donald Trump is a pro wrestler masquerading as commander-in-chief) in The Economist magazine and, in some ways, it states something I've been thinking for a while. I've copied the whole thing here for the purposes of discussion.

Quote

The first time Lexington thought of Donald Trump at WrestleMania this week was when, to the fading strains of “America the Beautiful”, a helicopter flyover churned the night sky over the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Was the president about to make a surprise reappearance at the annual WWE sports-entertainment extravaganza to which he owes so much of his political method? The second time, well into the seven-hour grapplefest, was as the veteran star-wrestler “Triple H” was ripping out his grudge-rival’s nose-rings with a pair of pliers.

That was not only a reflection on how Mr Trump treats his cabinet. Paul Levesque, as Triple H was originally known, these days spends most of his time as a senior executive in the billion-dollar WWE business, having married into the McMahon clan that owns it. In reality-bending WWE style, he first married and divorced Stephanie McMahon, daughter of WWE founder Vince, fictitiously. This was part of a story-line in which she and her brother Shane, both WWE executives who appear in WWE productions as villainous executives and wrestlers, tried to steal their parents’ business. Triple H then actually married and had three children with her.

Those developments are now part of his wrestling character. As Triple H was mock-torturing his rival Batista this week, a WWE commentator—broadcasting live to 180 countries and one of America’s biggest television audiences—said mock-fearfully: “That’s my boss…” This disorienting mix of business, dynasty and entertainment—scrambling performance and reality, ham interests and financial ones—is the defining characteristic of professional wrestling and of its chief emulator, the president.

Mr Trump is another sometime WWE performer with close ties to the McMahons. A longtime fixture at WrestleMania, he launched a semi-scripted assault on Vince McMahon at the 2007 version. Having been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, he returned the favour by appointing Vince’s wife Linda to his cabinet, as head of the Small Business Administration. She will soon leave it to run a pro-Trump Superpac. Yet such personal links do not begin to do justice to Mr Trump’s stylistic debt to spoof wrestling.

To appreciate that, consider why it has proved so alluring. It is not because fans think the fights are real, exactly. Testifying before the New Jersey Senate in 1989—when the McMahons were trying to evade regulations on competitive sport—Mrs McMahon admitted they were fake. After this unprecedented flouting of “kayfabe”, as wrestlers call their scripted reality, some said the industry was finished. That it has instead grown hugely is chiefly owing to the power of escapism. The 80,000 WWE fans at the MetLife, typically young men with defiant slogans such as “I’m not dead yet muthaBad worder!” on their t-shirts, are the heroes of their own imaginations. Many carried chunky replicas of WWE (fake) championship belts. “It’s like Santa Claus, not real, but that’s not the point,” said Jason, a banker from Manhattan with a $300 belt over his shoulder.

WWE has also found new ways, in its scripting and use of digital media, to buttress the fantasy. Most important, it constantly shifts between different registers of make-believe, from real to credible to absurd. Thus, for example, its use of executives as characters. Similarly, its stars appear in and out of character on social media. In a pre-WrestleMania rant Ronda Rousey, a former mixed martial arts champion, slammed WWE as “not real” and vowed henceforth to do “whatever the hell I want”. Such tricks create sufficient doubt about what is real for wwe fans to keep living their dream.

A blurring of the age-old distinction between “faces and heels” also supports this shift towards realism: Triple H, once a heel, is now considered a good guy. So does the frenetic way WWE scriptwriters distract their audience with new talking-points: while it was legal for Triple H to take a sledge hammer to Batista, did it make sense, given his (actual) torn pectoral muscle, tactically?

Mr Trump’s success lies in applying WWE principles where the line between performance and reality is even finer. In “The Apprentice” he played a successful businessman. In politics he saw that the contest of ideas its participants claimed to be engaged in was really a partisan slugfest almost as contrived and absurd as the WWE. He therefore offered a more ghoulishly watchable version of what voters were already getting. Why choose Jeb Bush trying to be a pantomime bad-ass when you could have the real thing?

The president also employs the WWE ’s new stagecraft. Mixing family, business and politics infuriates sticklers for the law, but makes his fans think he is somehow more real—or “authentic”—than his rivals. He is also a master of shifting between degrees of make-believe. “I’m not supposed to say this,” he interjects into his speeches, “but what the hell?” And then there are his constantly distracting micro-dramas, breathlessly echoed by a commentariat every bit as emotionally invested in the drama as the press gallery at WrestleMania, which often erupted into spontaneous gasps or applause. How much of Mr Trump’s behaviour is concocted is debatable; private Trump is also pretty pantomime. But that uncertainly merely adds, WWE style, to the reality-tumbling effect.

Electoral royale

Mr Trump’s ham performance has been endangered by its own success—represented by two years of unified Republican government. A WWE performer without an adversary would be a pitiful spectacle. It is therefore testament to the president’s genius that he was able to fill the void, not with policies, obviously, but rather a parade of new enemies: immigrant children, black football players, the late John McCain. Yet with the Democrats soon to choose a new champion, his performance may be about to get easier.

His opponents should be advised by this. The WWE's popularity suggests their main hope, that voters will tire of Mr Trump’s grim clowning, may be wishful. More specifically, they should recognise that no professional politician can beat him in a grudge match. They would do better, where possible, to ignore him.

The part that made my cynical lightbulb go on was this: "In politics he saw that the contest of ideas its participants claimed to be engaged in was really a partisan slugfest almost as contrived and absurd as the WWE."

For me, this was like the first in a line of dominoes toppling.

- Trump is just the political version of a pro wrestler, playing the part of a popular villain.

- The 'good guys' are also playing parts. They're no more serious about this than he is.

- It's all about the show, the drama, the conflict, the emotions...not solving problems or resolving issues.

- 'Issues' like the Mueller/collaboration thing are just a plot lines. Collaboration plot line replaced the tax return plot line that replaced the e-mail plot line that replaced the birth certificate plot line. It's just a distraction...wasted effort.

- The news media (all of them) live off this 'drama'. Drama sells! Trump has made them a lot of money.

- The media is no longer the neutral conveyor of information. They're not on your side, either. They're on the media's side. They're on the side of controversy, conflict, and shock.

- If issues and problems go away, where's the drama? How would the politician motivate voters? How would the media attract viewers?

- 'Voters' aren't really logical and informed people judging the merits of various proposals. Most are just 'fans' cheering their stars to win.

- The star that puts on the best show wins the most votes

I haven't watched pro wrestling since I was a kid, but some things never change. Remember the wrestler, standing with the 'interviewer' and screaming at the camera about how the other guy was a no good dirty rotten scoundrel? And, he's the one who's gonna beat him silly? Go watch some classic WWE promos. You can't tell me you don't see the resemblance in today's political arena. Our politicians lead pep rallies where they scream about the evil 'bad guys' and the fans eat it up. But, nothing ever changes. No one really wins. It's all just theater. Do you like Hulk Hogan or Randy Savage? They'll yell and scream and throw each other all over the ring. And then tomorrow, they'll do it all over again. Whatever keeps the votes, dollars, and viewers coming.

It all became clear to me when the base rejected Governor Kasich for Cruz and Trump that the Republican base has descended into some sort of evil abyss. It started in 2008 when John McCain had to quell some of his vile unChristian supporters. Trump is an evil man that many Biblical scholars think is the anti-Christ. I don't know about that but I know his base is comprised of people who are more depraved than they are ignorant and stupid.

Trump's largest support comes from the Bible belt and by every measure of morality, the Bible belt is extremely unChristian and immoral. I am not implying that Christians are the only moral people in the world. I just think that if one wants to wear that label one should walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

If I had a daughter I would not want her to marry a man like Donald Trump. I would want her to marry a man like President Obama or John McCain or President Reagan. i.e. men with honor who would respect her. The hatred from them towards Obama is to be expected as he's biracial and a Democrat and many Republicans in the Bible Belt are racists but after their support of Trump their ugly hatred for John McCain did shock me a bit. They excused Trump's cruelty towards McCain and his family and before that Trump and his base attacked First Lady Barbara Bush President GHW Bush. Real Americans don't do stuff like that.

The issues between the so called left vs the so called right can be dealt with constructively but not with so many people who have the Trump mentality and the Trump morality. Good decent Republican leaders are becoming rarer and rarer because it seems the GOP base is becoming more and more depraved. Things are different in Utah which by every measure has a moral and law abiding population much like the Northeast. Research will show that the Bible Belt and other red states are very immoral and lawless. Alaska for instance has the highest rates of STDs and the Bible Belt leads the country in divorce, murder, drug use, violent crime, gluttony and teen pregnancies. What's happening?

I realize that government can't and shouldn't directly legislate morality but something should be done. I support universal health care for a lot of reasons. The top reason is to stop the greed, adequately regulate hospitals and doctor and come up with cures instead of exploiting human suffering. Whether health care is a right or a privileged is for another debate. This leads me to my point. Rights and privileges come with responsibilities. The people in the Bible Belt are not responsible when it comes to their health. They have more health problems due to their lifestyles of smoking, drinking, promiscuity, drugging, sloth and gluttony. If universal health care comes to be would it right to treat self-inflicted illnesses such as diabetes, COPD, drug addiction, obesity, heart disease etc... As it stands now, the medical industry is all too happy to enable the behaviors of irresponsible people. Capitalism has flaws and the US medical industry is a prime example of that. If doctors were allowed to refuse to treat non compliant patients, perhaps the slothful and gluttonous would mend their ways which would force the food industry to sell healthier food.

As many of you know, I believe that nature accounts for they lion's share of human behavior but nurture and environment play a role. While bad people can't be turned into good people, bad people can be forced to behave lawfully and responsibly. IMO it would be unfair to responsible people to spend medical resources on people who won't behave responsibly when it comes to their health.

Give that fat lummox with type 2 diabetes a year's worth on insulin. If by then they have not lost a decent amount of weight cut off their insulin or make them pay out of pocket.

If smokers refuse to quit stop free treatment and make them pay out of pocket.

Cover only responsible people.

As we have seen, MAGAts are infantile when it comes to their rights. They want their rights but they don't care about the rights of others and they don't seem the think that rights come with responsibilities. Perhaps some negative reinforcement would make them more responsible even though they would still disregard the rights and well being of others, pigs that they are.

]]>252617Tue, 16 Apr 2019 06:13:37 +0000What's the problem with Rep. Omar?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251331-whats-the-problem-with-rep-omar/
She was accused of anti-semitism because she said a Jewish organization was lobbying aggressively? So what? Isn't it true? I'm confused.
]]>251331Wed, 27 Mar 2019 03:52:40 +0000A Health Care Strategy That Could Change Politics for the Betterhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252362-a-health-care-strategy-that-could-change-politics-for-the-better/
You health starts with you. One of the biggest drivers of health care profits is obesity. The co-morbidities associated with obesity are many and the medical industry is exploiting them for all they are worth. They have hiked the price on insulin which is unfair to the type one diabetics. The medical industry is making a fortune on C-PAP machines, statin drugs, knee and hip replacements, diabetic amputations, diabetic wound care, heart surgeries, weight loss surgeries etc...

Every cloud has a silver lining. We live longer than the MAGAts because we have more responsible lifestyles. We exercise and we have better diets and most of use are not smokers.

We should always be looking into life extension while the MAGAts waddle to their doctors for dangerous medications.

As usual the trash in the Bible Belt dies sooner than anyone else. Oh happy day! This is cause to celebrate! As our life expectancy is increasing, their's is decreasing!

Once again, by every measure, the residents of the Red States prove to be the most morally depraved Americans. The watch the most porn, commit the most murders, have them most divorces, have the most gluttony, have the most sloth, have the most hate groups, have the most gun deaths, have the most teen pregnancies, have the most poverty, have the most smoking and now we see that they are the most sexually diseased. Are any of you surprised?

A large percentage of the population of red states are BAD people. There really is no other way to say it. They have no excuse and while it may be a tough pill for us to swallow we can no longer ignore this reality. There is no good reason to hide this dirty little secret. If the truth hurts their feelings, tough shit!

Truth before harmony!

]]>252499Sun, 14 Apr 2019 09:02:56 +0000The rights epitaph .https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252774-the-rights-epitaph/
You don't get to elect a monster and think you can walk away from it, saying it is only partisan politics. It isn't, you elected this countries biggest threat, you sold out your country.
]]>252774Thu, 18 Apr 2019 15:43:29 +0000Why don't libruls embrace patriotism?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251369-why-dont-libruls-embrace-patriotism/
Seriously, don't you get sick of the right hoarding all of the American iconography while the left just lets them have it?

How are voters supposed to feel when we talk about being socialists when a lot of people who are still alive today grew up hating socialism?

Why don't we just shut up about socialism, keep all the stuff about the environment and closing the wealth gap and not being evil douchebags like Trump, but not actually tell everyone 'we are socialists'? Seriously, it's like we're embracing the bad names that the GOP used to call us because they want people to be scared.

If we wrap all of this in American flags and images of America's past while assuring people it isn't going to affect anyone's freedom (and will in fact increase it, which it will), I just know people will love it.

]]>251369Wed, 27 Mar 2019 19:25:50 +0000Can we even solve the economic disaster?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251097-can-we-even-solve-the-economic-disaster/
Can we even solve the economic disaster?

Should we claim that Obama did a good job on the economy, or that maybe he should have thrown people in jail?

Even more so, being the first black President, would he have been risking his life if he had cleaned house. With so many goofy right wingers, and so much money available to the crooked "conservatives", it was probably a real possibility.

What really happened?
G. W. Bush started the disaster by putting borrowing and spending into hyperdrive. He wanted to pretend that his tax cuts worked.
Which, caused the crash.
Most of the Federal Reserve really cheap lending went to buy crappy ventures.
These became the "toxic assets".
But then Obama poured more dollars on the mess.
Instead of letting the companies just go belly up, and sending the "conservatives" to jail, the Quantative Easing program substituted government backed securities for borrowed government money securities.
And then came Trump.

The actual problem is probably not so much making an attempt to pay off the national debt, as the continuing pretense of a "successful" economy.
We are neck deep in an economy which CANNOT continue as is, without continuous government borrowing and spending.
And, we appear to have an electorate who doesn't have a clue that all the "winning" is happening on a credit card.
Trump has told the Federal Reserve that they WILL NOT raise interest rates, and the "pretend to be" independent agency is going to go along with the oligarchs.

The economy cannot "grow" out of the borrowing hole that it is in.
Simple arithmetic dictates that an economy cannot grow faster than the population grows, because there isn't anybody available to do the work of making the products, and providing the services.
Even "productivity increases" cannot occur fast enough to pay down the past borrowing.

However,
most of the past borrowing has wound up in the bank accounts of billionaires.
Which,
should mean that,
it really is the government's money.
Just because some billionaire borrowed some government dollars to "invest" in a bad idea,
and then Obama's FED came along and bought that bad idea with good government dollars,
doesn't mean the crook who bought the bad idea, should get to keep the good government dollars.

So maybe there should be an era of "bad investment reparations".
The government kept records of who got the FED dollars.
So, isn't it time to just say;
"Too bad. I wasn't yours in the first place."

]]>251097Sat, 23 Mar 2019 17:35:13 +0000Hillary Clinton was righthttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251940-hillary-clinton-was-right/
She may have been politically clumsy, but she was right.The problem is the deplorables. They'll still be there and still be a problem, long after Trump is dust in the ground.

]]>251940Fri, 05 Apr 2019 14:43:35 +0000A Caveat When Posting Factual Posts That Trump Supporters May Readhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251793-a-caveat-when-posting-factual-posts-that-trump-supporters-may-read/
I think it is only responsible to warn Trump supporters that posts may contain facts. Their allergies to facts could have catastrophic consequences. As well all know, the average Trump supporter is not the picture of physical and mental health. A meltdown of those orange snowflakes could have dire effects on the environment. It would be like a complete melting of the snow packs of Mount Tropicana.

I prepared the following caveat. Please feel free to add to it or create one of your own.

TRIGGER WARNING TO TRUMP SUPPORTERS!The following contains facts, links, sources and more facts. Reading this could cause cognitive dissonance leading to meltdowns, temper tantrums, Tweet storms, histrionic rage, excessive punctuation, typing in all caps and suicidal thoughts and actions. In rare cases reading fact based material could lead to enlightenment and the acceptance of truth. Reading the following could destroy your ignorance.

]]>251793Wed, 03 Apr 2019 01:42:59 +0000WHAT IF?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252472-what-if/What if when Trump does not win the 2020 election, he refuses to accept the results of the election, accuses the democrats of cheating and fixing the election, and then declares a national emergency, ordering the military to keep him in power as the president. What would the military, what would congress do, particularly the republicans? What would his radical base do? I am assuming and hope the military would not back him up, but I am not sure about the republicans in congress and the radical elements in his base. Being a pessimist and since Trump appears to be unstable, I would not put it pass him to take such an action.
]]>252472Sat, 13 Apr 2019 18:41:30 +0000Know Your Enemy: The Gun Nutshttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252113-know-your-enemy-the-gun-nuts/
Gun nuts are one segment of the Trump mob. The gun nuts could be the most dangerous. They are delusional but I don't think liberals know how delusional and dangerous they really are. Their mentality speaks volumes when it comes to understanding the MAGAt especially when gun rights are involved. Watch the video in it's entirety and you will see that truth really is stranger than fiction.

The video below will really open your eyes into the immaturity, ignorance and depravity of the MAGAts. On the surface the video is funny but when you think about the content it is very disturbing. You will gain an insight into the MAGAts that you may never have had.

]]>252113Mon, 08 Apr 2019 21:05:04 +0000The Muller Reporthttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252162-the-muller-report/
This is it folks! We have to raise hell more than ever before to get anything done! The Trump team is hoping we'd be too run down to keep on their asses! If he Muller report has things in it to sensitive to be released to the public, there is still no reason not to release the whole thing to congress! A democrat led congress is not going to release things to the public they shouldn't. Republicans put party before country, not Democrats! The summeries of each part of the muller report were maid by the muller team so they could be released to congress and the public with little or no redactions! All (or most) of those should be released to the public. If people from the Muller team are complaining that the Barr summery(summeries?) paint an unrealistic picture, there must be something Barr doesn't want us to see that we need to see! We have to protest and raise Hell! We can 'put all this behind us' after the impeachment hearings!
]]>252162Tue, 09 Apr 2019 15:43:22 +0000Still Think Righties Are Merely Confused Or Brainwashed?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251969-still-think-righties-are-merely-confused-or-brainwashed/

Check out this thread and poll. They are more deranged and deplorable than you ever thought. I get it and I understand why people think that most of them are good people but that is because we are judging them by our moral standards. We think they have been charmed by the Orange Menace. They are the Orange Menace. Moral and sane people would not have made Trump the head of their party.

If you read the thread I posted you will see why MAGAts should not have guns and why we would be wise to own guns. They are not our political adversaries, they are the enemies of truth and the American way. They shoot up schools, streets, malls, mosques, synagogues, and churches.

]]>252028Sun, 07 Apr 2019 07:18:55 +0000Somethinghttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/252025-something/
Call it Geo Piety, the one and only Earth. The infinitesimals who fight wars, or who are caught living where wars are fought. Something in the way of growing up as a kid and worrying about living another day and whether there will be enough food of any kind to indulge on to survive.

The Beatles, a band that came about in the 1960's when I was a kid, that was the first generation after WWII stuck with me.

Oh, it's so put about, so terribly stiff in today's world. A long way, a long way, in some ways, better, in some ways, not so much better as yet.

Peace!

]]>252025Sun, 07 Apr 2019 04:56:01 +0000There are probably thousannds of reasons why Medicare for All could not pass.https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251557-there-are-probably-thousannds-of-reasons-why-medicare-for-all-could-not-pass/
There are probably thousands of reasons why Medicare for All won't pass.

There are probably thousands of companies that sell health insurance to their employees.

And, there are probably thousands of them that make money selling that health insurance.

Meaning, that those companies are not going to want to lose the profits that they are getting by selling that insurance, so they will be fighting Medicare For All, for all their might.

There was a local Chicago story recently, about a medium size company that had gone bankrupt, and was not paying the health claims of their employees, even though the employees had been insured when the claims were made.

The trick is called "self insurance".

The employer pays the employee, but then charges the employee for the health insurance.

]]>251557Sat, 30 Mar 2019 02:48:36 +0000What would the Nazi's do when their leader is threatened?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251677-what-would-the-nazis-do-when-their-leader-is-threatened/
Well the would definitely go after the media , especially the press, They would go after the courts with threats. They would go after the prosecutors who don't support them. They would threaten the opposition by telling them they will do what they want and try to write their own laws. They would have their politicians try to pass laws that takes away the rights of people who don't support them. They would try all manners of ways to take away the votes of people who appose them. They would threaten the destruction of businesses that don't support them. They would use there power to hurt parts of their country that apposes them. They will use threats on all opposition and they would lie non stop even the most ridiculous of comments. They will will make sure their followers hate their designated right things and support many things that are unsupportable. They will make blind ignorant puppets who are frothing at the mouth in hatred of all opposition to their hate.
]]>251677Mon, 01 Apr 2019 03:11:40 +00005 A Day Keep the Trolls and Spammers at Bayhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251482-5-a-day-keep-the-trolls-and-spammers-at-bay/
The rules allow us to post 5 new threads a day so do it!

Keep in mind, the Russians are not here only to troll. They are here to spam with propaganda. That's what they do. Keep those turds on defense. Keep our posts at the top.

Support your fellow non MAGAts.

]]>251482Fri, 29 Mar 2019 06:06:56 +0000Russian Troll Tactics and How to Defeat Themhttps://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251058-russian-troll-tactics-and-how-to-defeat-them/If you respond to any alt-right Bad word assume that it is a Russian troll because it is whether it knows it or not.

How to spot a Russian Troll:

Russian trolls use a tactic called Whataboutism or Whataboutery.Here's how it works. The troll reads a news article about Trump cheating on his wives, barging in on naked teen girls, in their dressing rooms, or bragging about grabbing women by their genitals and the troll responds in the comment section with, "What about Clinton?" in an attempt to make the discussion about Bill Clinton.

If it is using words like liberal, leftist, Obummer, snowflake etc.. it's a Russian troll or a useful idiot.

Call it a Russian troll:

Ask it why its IP address shows up as coming from a Russian city such as Moscow, St Petersburg or Volgagrad etc...

Ask it how much Putin is paying them.

Ask him about the poverty in Russia.

Ask him if he's gay like Putin.

Compare Russia to other countries.

Russia's economy is in a nose dive and it has been in a nose dive since Putin came to power.

France's GDP is $1.36 trillion and Russia's GDP is 416.80 billion but it gets worse. Russia's population is 144 million whereas France's population is 66 million. Post these facts. Facts stifle Russian trolls as much as they infuriate Trump supporters.

Like Americans, Russians are also ignorant but unlike ignorant Americans, Russians are kept ignorant by the dictatorship. Some Russians have access to Google and Bing worldwide but many of them don't.

When on Other Social Media Report and Flag Russian Trolls:

Yahoo, Facebook, Youtube, and Aol news is infested with them. Click the report button when you see an alt-right comment or post.

Here's some ammo. If you don't have time to write something back to the the troll or MAGAt post a MEME. Keep in mind, their mission is to spread propaganda and lies. Piggy back on the threads and use their lies against them. They are not here to debate. They are here to spread lies, lies and more lies.

Good luck and good hunting!

]]>251058Sat, 23 Mar 2019 03:42:42 +0000Why is my State Red?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251554-why-is-my-state-red/
I don't know... or so the story goes. Look I am not a historian and I'm just positing what I know about history which frankly isn't a lot. But here's my short take on the answer.

I think the reasons go back way back to the founding of this country. Many of the first thirteen colonies required agriculture to produce product that could be sold back to Europe for profits for items that could not be manufactured here at that time. Slavery was utilized by the Brits and the French in the Caribbeans and then introduced into the states as a means of production primarily ordained by what we might call the ultra rich now.

Basically speaking, ports were needed as a means of transportation back and forth between the Atlantic Ocean, and these ports became huge economic powers in themselves. Say Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, New York in the beginning.

Eventually as the new continent won it's freedom new cities that were strategically located nearby the port cities by channels grew. Say Chicago, Detroit, etc...

This is where markets and centrally located parcels of land evolved into large cities that in turn created their own centralized economies. And then you had the railroads bridging the East to the West and eventually the Pacific based trade system grew strong.

I'm leaving a lot out regarding manufacturing of course. I'm also leaving out a lot out regarding the elite Universities that were born out from all this wealth that was eventually achieved.

In many of the Red States which had no ports you had cities that grew up out of production. Big coal is one example of a giant powerhouse of production. In order to power any manufacturing you required energy and big coal provided this big time.

What about workers rights? Good question. Coal miners struggled hard and got paid little. The owners decided to own the land and control everything. Sort of like slavery. The company store.

You must think about the basic needs of production when you think about what made the US such a strong power house in economic terms. The railroads, the steal industry, later on auto manufacturing, and even agriculture where small farms lost out to big corporate farming. And now of course high tech, military arms production and big pharma.

I sound like a crazy wacko for even writing this basic history of why we have red states. Anyway, it's not that the port cities of Boston or New York were or even are more egalitarian, and less racist, it's just that these were cities that accepted myriads of new immigrants. And yes, there were battles that ensued. Workers rights, people working for nothing, children working in textile mills etc.

But out of that framework a more Liberalized, but by no means perfect charter slowly evolved along the coastal cities, except in Miami (I can't blame Trump for that one).

The land is big and it is bountiful. The middle is just as good as the coast and in many ways more fertile. Hey, what's the problem with Central and South America, if anyone should ask?

In a short, I would say, the country, the entirety of the Americas land masses is historically economically rigged.

And by these terms, once upon a time, American Exceptionalism did in theory exist, as long as you were not a slave or brown skinned, or a woman, or an indigent.

Well some might say it still exists if you are smart, creative, of sound entrepreneur mind and have a good idea that will as they change the world for the better someday... ha ha ha , then by all means you should go for it

Peace!

]]>251554Sat, 30 Mar 2019 01:53:28 +0000So What has Trump accomplished?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/251558-so-what-has-trump-accomplished/
Besides the points that Adam Schiff chairman of the intelligence committee made the other day, all of which were proven to be true, what has Trump done during his presidency that should make you worry about your future?

Secretary of the interior, Trumps nomination who was a oil lobbyist is also being investigated on charges of public corruption. What about David Bernhardt?

By tweet he announces that the Golan Heights are accepted by the US as Israel won land. So you can wage war on an opponent and rightfully

make their land your own - is right?

Mohammad Bin Salman has an expat who is a journalist living in the US mutilated in a Turkish Embassay

And meanwhile the Saudi's are using American made planes and bombs to kill innocent people in Yemen

Trump says he believes that man made climate change is all made up / this is backed up by his policy measures

and his supreme court appointment.

Where does one start to point out that this is bad news. Say nothing about his latest move to use the Justice Department to destroy the last vestiges of Obama Care that people need to live.

And all this we knew the very moment he won the election.

Trump rightfully says that too many manufacturing jobs went overseas, and then he uses Tariffs on China. China is an economic powerhouse now that doesn't even need the US. That's a fact you can take to the bank. The US Corps that go over there do so to make big profit. Meanwhile, the Tariffs are costing the US consumer 1 - 2 billion dollars a month.

Trump rightfully questions the Federal Bank, suggesting that wrongful monetary policy measures actually slow down the economy, even when there is no evidence of inflation above 2 percent.

Then he nominates Stephen Moore as Chairman of the Fed -

42 percent of american's polled still support his presidency.

I find that amazing in itself.

But then, the Republican Party and all of their actions in the last twenty years just don't lie.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination is good news forliberal policy activists. And that’s whether she wins the nomination or not. The Massachusetts senator appears poised to serve as a progressive policy anchor in the 2020 Democratic field, pushing the field — and the eventual nominee — toward aggressively liberal policy stands.

How might Warren have such influence? Because the Massachusetts senator is planning to release detailed and decidedly liberal policy proposals on issue after issue. Her rivals, if past primary campaigns are any guide, will feel pressure to either “match” her on policy by coming up with their own proposals, say that they agree with Warren, or convince the party’sincreasingly left-leaning electoratethat Warren’s proposals are too liberal. And remember that presidential winnersusually try to implement their promises— so an idea put out by Warren in March could be in Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s platform in August and be signed into law by a President Gillibrand in 2021.

There is a fairly comprehensive list of her policy proposals in the article at the link above.

]]>249068Wed, 20 Feb 2019 19:20:16 +0000Why is Socialism still a dirty word even for liberals?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/249871-why-is-socialism-still-a-dirty-word-even-for-liberals/
Even mainstream democrats have a coronary if someone mentions socialism why is that? Why are Liberals so spineless ?

Socialism is no longer a dirty word in the US – and that’s scary for some

Since Trump took power, membership of the Democratic Socialists of America has leapt from 6,000 to 47,000 – and even conservatives are struggling to articulate what is so bad about free education and healthcare You need us and you need to show us some respect

]]>249871Mon, 04 Mar 2019 18:51:24 +0000What makes a Liberal?https://www.liberalforum.org/topic/179466-what-makes-a-liberal/I'm new here, but not new to political thinking; however I do not tend to identify with either conservatives or liberals. There are points to issues from both sides that I can agree with and understand. But the more liberal news and other media I read, the more confused I get about what make someone a liberal. I could be grasping at air here, but could you guys help me out?]]>179466Tue, 04 Aug 2015 13:08:01 +0000